After Bakemonogatari, this series has a lot to live up to…
… and this second helping doesn’t disappoint in any way, accentuating characters that were overlooked in the first season, adding a few villain-esque characters, and leaving enough room for tons of creepiness; more creepy, in fact, than the first season. The sexual assaults on Mayoi continue, and Araragi’s unchecked libido is allowed free reign over the bevy of girls, and this includes his sisters. In fact, this entire season focuses on his little sisters and developing them. One of them gets infected by a spirit, much like the girls in the first season, and the other turns out to be something completely different. Meanwhile, a conman is screwing with middle schoolers in order to make a buck and a duo of strangers come to fill in Meme’s place.
The story of the series isn’t particularly strong, but I give it a high rating because it’s engaging. It’s not a huge epic. It’s a very inclusive story that works due to smart dialogue and a great cast. There are a few missteps along the way though, mostly coming from the sidelining of key characters to shoehorn the others in. The first season did a good job of focusing on character-specific arcs while still maintaining the importance of the other characters. This season does some of that, though it inevitably decides to focus more on the new characters and throw the others to the side. Despite the fact Senjougahara is Araragi’s girlfriend, we rarely see her this season.
Nisemonogatari is also so much more sexual than its predecessor. Which in some regards is okay, and others isn’t. I appreciated the infamous toothbrush scene because it’s pretty much the greatest sex scene ever. Well, minus the fact he’s essentially raping his sister with a toothbrush. And this sister on brother action just keeps going. This is a series that has no qualms with being weird and appealing to every fetish imaginable while creating new ones.
It’s so difficult to understand this series specifically because of how strange it is. It has this really cool urban fantasy story, but mixes it with an ecchi/harem; it has fantastic animation and style, but it is used on pointless ass or tit shots.
Fuck it, who am I kidding? I love this. It has awesome ultra-violence, awesome female characters, awesome writing, pacing, and plot. Monogatari kicks ass.
Animation
The animation is so good. It hasn’t changed much from the first season, continuing the tradition of visual metaphor and tons of gags as well. It doesn’t use the cue cards too much anymore, though still sometimes tells a story within the story. The directing and writing work together so well to create such a unique and artistic series.
Sound
Once again, Nisemonogatari has unique openings for each character. Karen’s gets instant points for being ska, a genre my college white boy sensibilities tends to pick out from anything else and hold in high regards. The other openings are good and the ending is good as well. The music in series is great, especially the tooth brush scene. A lot of people are freaked out by this scene, but seriously, look at how beautifully directed it is. The classical music in the background builds to a crescendo as the climax of the scene approaches. Also, the cartoon sound effects throughout are fantastic and the voice actors and actresses are wonderful.
Characters
Araragi has become an ultra-pervert. His character downgrades quite a bit with this season. But, the bad guys, especially Kaiki, are fun and interesting.
Anyway, it’s about time to play that little game that requires the utmost attention and dedication.
BEST GIRL: ROUND 2
10. Nadeko Sengoku- A lot of characters in this series are total sluts but Sengoku is unbearably slutty. I’m glad she only shows up in one episode this season. But she makes Araragi play Twister and does all this slutty posing stuff. God, I hate her. If there was a character that deserved to be killed, it’s her.
9. Yozoru Kagenui- I really don’t have any reason to hate her aside from the fact she has very little character and wears high heels that are way too big. She’s a decent bad guy, but she overall isn’t impressive at all.
8. Yotsugi Ononoki- I put her this high, despite being boring and stale, because her character design is really cute and I can see her being a more entertaining character in the future.
7. Tsukihi Araragi- Tsukihi doesn’t have that much character, especially compared to her sister. I didn’t really pick up much from her character in this season that made me care. Her arc was really only two episodes long and she barely had anything to do with it.
6. Tsubasa Hanekawa- From first to sixth? How’d this happen? Well, this season she does very little, cuts her hair, loses the glasses, and is completely uninteresting throughout. While she remained a key player in the last season, this season she is boring.
5. Shinobu Oshino- She’s cute and all, but I really didn’t find any reason to like her much. She’s there for the lolicons most definitely. She’s hot as a teenager though. Otherwise her love for donuts is kinda cute, but her tsundere/yandere thing with Araragi is way too much like Senjougahara.
4. Hitagi Senjougahara- I don’t really like Hitagi in any way. She’s too tsundere/yandere for me and so awkward to watch around Araragi. Which might be part of her charm. But her romance with Araragi doesn’t develop at all this season and all the portions with her in it aren’t memorable enough to care about.
3. Mayoi Hachikuji- Mayoi’s grown on me for being that cute little wanderer who interjects herself into the series every once in a while to engage Araragi in adorable, silly antics. I still maintain Araragi’s treatment of her is kinda creepy, but the fact she likes it and admits she does makes it okay…I guess. This season she’s much more fun and silly, making her move up the list.
2. Suruga Kanbaru- Not much to say here I didn’t say last time. She’s a total pervert, lesbian, yaoi fan girl, and athlete. She’s silly and her portions are fun to watch. She’s barely given enough time to shine in this season, but what little we’re offered is worth it.
1. Karen Araragi- Holy shit is Karen amazing. She’s a martial artist and a complete badass. She’s a lot like Kanbaru in the athletic and kind of perverted department, but she’s also extremely likeable for being an “Ally of Justice”, this skewed vision that she’s a superhero meant to protect everyone. As the season continues she becomes a lot more slutty, especially toward the part with the tooth brush. She seems very incestuous, despite apparently having a boyfriend. Then again, the Araragi family creed must be “Keep it in the Family”. I found her to be the cutest, have the best personality, and be the most fun to hang around. I’m glad she gets the majority of screen time as far as the female characters go.
Overall
Nisemonogatari surpasses the original by going at a much faster clip and providing more of what I loved about the original. It’s weird, it’s fetishistic, it has a waifu for everyone, and it maintains an interesting story, a great script, and fantastic directing.
The Monogatari series isn’t for everyone. It’s a series for guys most definitely, and it’s also a series that you need to go into with a certain mindset. It’s completely different from anything else out there and I appreciate it for that.
And for Karen. Because Karen is the best girl.
